DRC: DEATH PENALTY FOR AN ARMY SERGEANT-MAJOR AFTER THE MURDER OF A PREGNANT WOMAN IN GOMA

April 15, 2024:

A soldier from the army, Sergeant Major Serugo Buhera, on April 6, 2024 was sentenced to death for shooting and killing a pregnant woman, at the end of a summary trial at the military garrison tribunal of Goma, in the North Kivu province, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
This military member of the command staff at the Katindo military camp in Goma was found guilty of "rape, murder, and the dissipation of war ammunition." The sergeant-major had riddled a pregnant woman with bullets on the night of April 3 to 4, 2024. In his defense before the court, the accused claimed he had mistaken the victim for a "monstrous creature."
The events took place while this soldier was assigned to guard the barrier post near the Tongilo primary school at the entrance of the Katindo military camp, in the city of Goma.
According to his statements before the military tribunal, before shooting the pregnant woman with ten bullets, he claimed to have seen a silhouette he mistook for a monster approaching him. These statements were deemed "fallacious" by various witnesses.
According to the prosecution, the soldier had forcefully taken the pregnant woman before raping her. A dispute between him and the victim ensued. He then shot her ten times in the chest, reports Radio Okapi.
Therefore, the judge found him guilty of the acts of rape, murder, and dissipation of war ammunition, and pronounced the heaviest penalty: the death sentence. After the verdict was announced, the convicted filed an appeal.